With the launch of the IU Ghana Gateway in May of this year, the first of its kind for a public university in Africa, the IU Global Gateway Network welcomes Dr. Samuel Gyasi Obeng as the Gateway’s inaugural academic director.
“Dr. Obeng’s profound history with both Indiana University and Ghana positions him perfectly to connect IU’s world-class faculty with Ghanaian colleagues,” says Vice President for International Affairs Hannah Buxbaum. “I welcome Dr. Obeng as a great facilitator of collaboration for our newest Gateway.”
Obeng’s connection to Ghana and Indiana University run deep: he received his B.A. (Linguistics) with Honors from the University of Ghana and later returned as a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Obeng completed his Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) at the University of York (England) specializing in Language and Linguistics Science with emphasis on phonetics-phonology and pragmatics, and a postdoctoral research training in African Studies, African Linguistics and Phonetics at UCLA.
Obeng joined Indiana University’s Linguistics Department in July 1994 where he has taught ever since, directing IU’s African Studies Program from 2007-2015. In 2022, he was appointed a Distinguished Professor of Linguistics and currently directs the West African Languages Institute in addition to serving the newly established Indiana University-Ghana Gateway as the Inaugural Academic Director.
In addition to being a leading linguist in the field of African languages and prolific in publications, Obeng has won several important awards and honors including being a two-time Carnegie African Diaspora Fellow, James S. Coleman African Studies Scholar, Distinguished Research Scholar in African Languages, Association of Commonwealth Universities Scholar, and McGraw Hill Distinguished Scholar. In November 2023 he was inducted into the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.
“In addition to Professor Obeng’s extraordinary scholarship that led to his 2023 induction, he has both hosted visiting Ghanaian students and scholars as well as facilitated IU’s engagement with key institutions across Ghana,” Global Gateway Network Director Cathie Carrigan says. “Having seen the enthusiasm with which he approaches Indiana-Africa connections, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with him as he applies his vast network and knowledge to this role.”
Faculty interested in engaging in Ghana can reach out to Dr. Obeng directly, as well as apply for funding to support Gateway-related activities at any of the six locations through the Global Gateway Grant.
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